


Hopelessly Devoted to You

by thehornsofmischief



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grease, Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, except for chan who is a lot younger, like 17 (lmao), so they're all around the same age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-21
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-09-26 02:17:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9857591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehornsofmischief/pseuds/thehornsofmischief
Summary: Hansol and Seungkwan have a difficult thing going on, Jeonghan and Seungcheol will vehemently deny that they have anything of any kind going on, and Wonwoo and Mingyu are convinced 'things' are 'okay' and 'completely normal'. Really, most of the boys just want to graduate.Seventeen Grease AU, basically. Yes to T-Birds and Pink Ladies and stupid teenagers, no to flying cars.





	1. Chapter 1

“I think we should break up.”

Those were not the words Seungkwan was expecting to hear when he’d walked out of his hotel ten minutes ago. Those were not the words Seungkwan was expecting to hear when he’d seen Hansol sitting on the sand, his fingers idly playing with the golden grains. And those were certainly not the words Seungkwan was expecting to hear when he’d had his tongue down Hansol’s throat mere hours ago.

“What?” 

Hansol pursed his lips, his expression ambiguous as he stared out at the ocean. Seungkwan’s hand slipped out of his hold, but he didn’t even shift. 

“You cannot be serious. I thought…” Seungkwan hated the way his voice cut out. He swallowed back the lump in his throat. “We were good together. We still _are_.”

“I know,” Hansol’s eyes gleamed with tears and Seungkwan took it as a small victory; he was hurting too. “But I’m moving away.”

“Where?” Seungkwan shifted so that he was facing the other boy. “I could visit you.”

Hansol just shook his head. He still wouldn’t look at Seungkwan. The other boy let out a sharp sigh, almost louder than the waves by their feet.

“You’re choosing now, of all times, to ignore me?”

“I’m not ignoring you.” Hansol muttered.

Seungkwan sank back into the sand, dejected. His chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself, like a black hole was being formed in the space where his heart was pathetically beating. He would never admit it, but Hansol was right; long distance relationships were hard. Most couples couldn’t keep it going, no matter how in love they were. Then there was also the chance that Hansol didn’t feel the same way as he did. Maybe, to him, this was barely more than a summer fling. Barely worth a thought. The beach became blurry and Seungkwan wiped a tear away.

“This isn’t fair.” The words fell bitterly from his mouth. “We can’t even have a nice last memory.”

Secretly, Seungkwan was hoping Hansol would turn and kiss him passionately, like people did in the movies. Wipe his tears away, say something really poignant and emotional, like ‘I’ll never forget you’, or something. Even if that was all bullshit, Seungkwan was a romantic, and he needed something to sweeten the sting in his heart.

But Hansol did nothing. He just sat there, staring at his toes curling in and out of the sand. Feeling uncharacteristically brave, Seungkwan leaned forward with the intention of pressing a kiss to Hansol’s cheekbone. But before his lips even came close, Hansol leaned away.

Seungkwan felt anger and hurt claw their way up his throat like bile. He clenched his teeth and stood up, hating the way his lungs felt like they were being squeezed clean of air. He deliberated on whether or not to say anything. Then, because he was nearly as dramatic as people said he was, he opened his mouth.

“You’re not even worth a good one-liner.”

Without a second glance, he stormed off, kicking sand up behind him in his haste to get away while he could still control his tears.

He didn’t see Hansol watch him leave, his cheeks wet with tears and his lips trembling with the words he’d forced from his mouth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference, the members of the Pink Ladies and the T-Birds are as follows: 
> 
> Pink Ladies:
> 
> Jeonghan (leader), Seungkwan, Jisoo, Soonyoung, Junhui (who is in the cheerleading team with Soonyoung) and Chan (who is an honourary member as he is Soonyoung's little brother).
> 
> T-Birds:
> 
> Seungcheol (leader), Hansol, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Minghao, Jihoon and Seokmin.

Hansol eyed the people at the office nervously. Apart from a guy at the desk, he was the only boy. There was a woman, presumably a teacher, staring out of the window at the parking lot, her facial expression absent. Two girls were tittering over by the magazine rack, their eyes on the boy leaning against the wooden reception desk. He was wearing a cheap leather jacket, a handmade patch tiredly declaring that he was a part of the ‘T-Birds’. Hansol couldn’t see his face, but judging from how the girls went into a tizzy every time he spoke, he must have been good-looking. Even the receptionist didn’t look aggravated, even though she’d given Hansol an icy glare as he’d shyly introduced himself.

“Come on! Just one drink,” The guy drawled loudly. 

The girls gasped, one of them slapping the other’s shoulder hard. The receptionist’s facial expression turned admonishing, but Hansol could see a flush creeping into her face. 

“In your dreams.”

The guy leaned in as if to whisper to her, but, conscious of his audience, he didn’t lower his voice. “Couldn’t you give me a chance? I’ve had the hots for you ever since I was a freshman.”

At this, the receptionist sighed. “Reminding a woman of her age won’t get you anywhere, Seungcheol.”

“But older women just…” Seungcheol turned, and Hansol got a look at his face. Damn. He was hot. “Know exactly what to do, you know?” He smirked and swept his eyes over to the teenage girls.

This was better than television. Hansol held back a laugh as the girls blushed furiously and hid behind the magazine rack. The receptionist bit her lip, fingers punishing her keyboard. Hansol looked over at the other teacher by the window, who was also clearly listening now, her eyes wide. Smiling, he turned to look back at Seungcheol to see what he would do next, but was startled to find the other boy already looking at him.

“Who are you?”

That was clearly directed at him. Hansol swallowed. “Umm…”

“He’s a new kid. Transfer from some place or other.” The receptionist supplied when Hansol didn’t speak.

“Ah,” Seungcheol nodded. He smiled, suddenly warm and friendly instead of intimidatingly flirtatious. Hansol relaxed a little. “What’s your name?”

“Hansol,” He spoke, his voice sounding smaller than he would have liked. He sat up at little and tried to will some confidence into himself.

Seungcheol stared at him for a moment, seeming to decide something before turning back to the receptionist.

“Have you assigned him a buddy yet?”

“No.” The receptionist answered curtly. The ‘I have better things to do than coddle the new kid’ went unsaid but Hansol heard it all the same. 

Seungcheol saw the pinched set of his lips and broke out into a grin.

“Today’s your lucky day, Hansol.” He walked over and pulled the other boy out of his seat, swinging his arm around his shoulders. “Welcome to the T-Birds.”

 

*

 

“Did you hear there’s a new kid?”

“Ah, really?”

“It’s September, of course there’s gonna be new kids.” Seungkwan cut in. 

The group turned around, their eyes instinctively going to their friend as he sat down at the table. He dropped his lunch tray down and the apple nearly teetered off. Junhui caught it and took a bite, but Seungkwan didn’t even notice; he was too busy wearing his ‘I have drama to spill’ face.

“You guys won’t believe what happened to me in the summer.”

Soonyoung leaned forward, grinning excitedly. “You finally got a car?” 

“No,” Seungkwan shook his head. Then he remembered that if he’d had a car, maybe Hansol wouldn’t have broken up with him. His mouth turned downwards. 

“Oh, this is serious.” Jisoo said, noticing the change in expression. “Worse than your car-less existence?”

“Much worse.” Seungkwan picked up his fork, absently poking at his food. Lasagna. Soggy lasagna. He pushed it away from him, his appetite gone. 

“What happened?” Jeonghan asked, gently putting his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders. 

“I had my heart broken, that’s what happened.” Seungkwan whined.

Jeonghan made a pitying noise, ripping open the corner of Seungkwan’s milk carton and bringing it to his lips. Seungkwan didn’t even have the energy to complain as he took a sip. His friends made appropriate comments, shaking their heads and the like. Soonyoung even slammed his hand on the table, which earned him a glare from Jisoo as he clutched his half-squished sandwich to his chest.

“What did that asshole do?” 

“We had an amazing time.” A sad, dreamy look entered Seungkwan’s eyes. “Two weeks at the beach resort that we go to every summer. But this time...Hansol was there.”

“Hansol? That’s his name?” 

“Yeah,” Seungkwan couldn’t help it - he smiled a little. Then the smile fell as quickly as it had risen. “Then he broke up with me out of nowhere on the last day. All because he’s moving away.”

“Jeez…” Soonyoung reached out and squeezed Seungkwan’s limp hand. “Sorry, that’s harsh.”

“That’s a damn understatement.” Seungkwan bit, his back suddenly ramrod straight. The anger he’d been repressing returned full force. 

Soonyoung withdrew his hand upon seeing the furious glint to Seungkwan’s eyes.

“Did he say what school he was moving to?” Jeonghan asked calmly, but his friends could identify the murderous intent behind the question.

“Unfortunately not. But too far to stay together, apparently.”

“I bet it’s not even that far and he’s just an awful person.” Jisoo said with a frown.

“That’s the thing,” Seungkwan looked up at him. “He’s not. He’s a great person. He’s - was - perfect. I have no idea where this came from.”

“Guys can feel insecure in relationships.” Jeonghan said sagely. “Hansol might be scared of you finding someone else when he’s not there beside you.”

The group nodded at Jeonghan’s wisdom. Well, all except Jisoo, who fixed him with a suspicious look. 

“Where did you suddenly get all this relationship knowledge from?” He asked.

Jeonghan’s pause would have went unnoticed by the unobservant, but Jisoo and Junhui both caught it. Within a moment Jeonghan was back to eating his lunch, innocently sucking on his fork.

“Oh, you know, here and there.”

Junhui raised a finger at the lie. “I call bullshit.”

“What’s bullshit?” Soonyoung looked up questioningly, his eyes darting between his friends.

“I think Jeonghan has something to tell us.” Jisoo took a bite out of his sandwich.

Junhui narrowed his eyes. “Something good happen in the summer, Jeonghan?” 

“Um, hello,” Seungkwan cut in. “Something bad happened in the summer. Screw Jeonghan’s secret boyfriend, are we just going to gloss over my broken heart?”

“Jeonghan has a secret boyfriend?!” Soonyoung gaped, staring first at Seungkwan’s scandalised expression, then at Jeonghan’s perfect poker face.

Jisoo and Junhui both leaned forward as Jeonghan took a breath, opening his mouth to answer.

“Don’t you think I would tell you guys if I had a boyfriend?”

“No.” The group simultaneously answered. 

“Ouch, harsh.”

“Maybe he’s right,” Soonyoung began. “Even if he wouldn’t have told us, we would have figured out by now.”

Junhui snorted. “Well, me and Jisoo would have, sure, but you and Seungkwan wouldn’t see a candle in the dark.”

“You always say that, but of course we wouldn’t if it’s just a candle without a flame!” Soonyoung slammed his hand perilously close to Jisoo’s lunch again.

“It’s an expression!” Junhui yelled.

“Well it’s stupid!”

Jisoo slapped hard at Soonyoung’s hand, making him yelp. “Get away from my lunch.”

“Are you guys seriously going to ignore my pain here?” Seungkwan whined.

 

“Aww, the Pink Babies are arguing again, how cute.”

The deep voice silenced the argument with frightening efficiency. The group looked up to see the leader of the T-Birds smirking at them from a table over, leaning on the back of his chair. Jeonghan immediately stiffened, and Seungkwan put a hand on his shoulder. 

“It’s Pink Ladies. Or maybe you can’t retain more than two words at a time.” Jeonghan smiled sweetly.

“Sorry, I only remember important information, I guess.” Seungcheol returned the smile with a relaxed shrug.

The whole school knew of the two groups’ rivalries, which stemmed from the long fought feud between their leaders, Jeonghan and Seungcheol. Rumour had it that the two had actually been friends at some point, then their relationship had suddenly taken a deep dive downhill about a year ago. 

“Why don’t we just eat our lunches in peace, guys? It’s the first day.” Soonyoung sighed. 

“We weren’t the ones out-screeching an aviary.”

“Wow, I’m impressed you know that word.” Jeonghan said, faux surprise across his face. He didn’t notice Seungkwan take his hand off his shoulder. “What other impressive words do you know?”

Seungcheol sat forward. “How about these: ‘fuck’ and ‘off’.”

Jeonghan put a hand to his chest, looking impressed. “Holy shit, that was touching. Thank you, Seungcheol.”

“My pleasure, Jeonghan.”

Jisoo suddenly noticed Seungkwan standing up as if to leave. He tried to grab his attention, but he seemed fixed on something in the T-Birds’ direction, his hand still gripping onto his milk carton. The boy began to walk and to everyone’s surprise, he stopped at the other group’s table, his face fuming as he glared down at one of them. He had his back to them, but the poor guy visibly froze, fork halfway to his mouth.

Strange. It wasn’t like Seungkwan to get into this whole gang-competition thing Jeonghan and Seungcheol had going on. 

“What the hell is he doing?” Junhui asked. Jisoo shrugged. 

 

Then Seungkwan emptied his entire carton of milk onto the boy’s head.

Table by table, the cafeteria fell into silence. Seungkwan’s eyes burned with rage as he crumpled up the now empty carton and let it drop to the floor. It landed among the steady droplets of milk streaming off the T-Bird’s shoulders and lap, splashing onto the linoleum floor in a sad little rhythm.

“Had a nice summer, Hansol?” He spat. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving a trail of whispers in his wake.

“Hansol?!” Soonyoung erupted. “Like...the same Hansol he was just talking about?!”

Junhui gaped and Jisoo shook his head in disbelief. Jeonghan and Seungcheol even forgot their argument. 

“The new kid knows Seungkwan?” Seungcheol asked him, the rest of his friends just as shocked as the Pink Ladies were. One of them tried to wipe Hansol down, but he gently pushed him away.

“I do.” Hansol turned and with a laborious sigh stood from his chair. “I deserved that.”

“I’ll say.” Junhui said, maybe a little too loud, because the T-Birds looked a little defensive. 

“It’s okay, he’s right.” Hansol shook his head, shifting uncomfortably as more cold milk dripped down his back. “I’m gonna go find him.”

Jeonghan and Seungcheol shared a concerned look. 

“Are you sure? I can go and calm him down.” Jeonghan said.

“Yeah, we can go get you cleaned up.” Seungcheol added.

“It’s fine, honestly,” Hansol was already on his way. “See you guys later.”

“Wow…” Soonyoung sighed. “This is a mess.”

Junhui nodded. “I’ll say.”

Soonyoung tutted. “Say that one more time, Junhui. Please.” 

“I’ll sa-”

“Both of you, shut the fuck up.” Jeonghan turned and picked up his tray. “Lunch is nearly over, clean up and get to class.”

“Yes, Mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so idk how often I can update because uni and studying are things that I do. Also idk if this is even any good, I'm just posting it because I need to force myself to be creative. Hopefully it won't be a complete and utter shit-show? Who knows (not me lmao)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this instead of my assignment. I'm a great student, I know. A+ for effort.

Going after Seungkwan had been a bad idea.

Hansol stopped in the middle of an unfamiliar courtyard, trying to remember the way back to the cafeteria, or reception, or anywhere that he’d been before (which wasn’t many places, to be honest). A gust of wind blew into him and he shivered in his wet shirt.  _ Fuck _ . 

It had been the chivalrous thing to do, but going after Seungkwan had  _ definitely _ been a bad idea.

“Hansol!”

He turned at the sound of the familiar voice. Seungcheol and a T-Bird whose name he couldn’t remember were rounding the corner. 

“Oh thank God…” Hansol sighed with relief. 

“It took us forever to find you. Do you even know where you are?” Seungcheol asked worriedly, taking off his jacket and swinging it around Hansol’s shoulders. The boy mumbled a ‘thanks’ and shook his head, looking sheepish. 

“Let’s just get to Bangtan’s. This guy is clearly in need of some ice cream.” The other T-Bird said, sounding tired. Hansol thought that maybe his name was Min…Min-something. Minghao! Hansol gave himself a mental high-five for remembering.

Seungcheol nodded. “Same. Everyone could do with more ice cream and less school.”

“We’re skipping school on the first day?” Hansol asked, a little panicked.

“Yupp.” Minghao grinned and lead the three of them out of school. Hansol didn’t even bother trying to take note of where they were; he was still a little caught up on the fact that he was skipping school on the first day. 

“What are the teachers going to think of me?” Hansol asked no one in particular. Seungcheol heard him, though, and let out a breathy laugh.

“Uh-oh, we have another Wonwoo on our hands.”

Minghao turned and raised his eyebrow at Hansol before turning back round.

“Don’t worry,” Seungcheol patted Hansol on the back. “We usually wouldn’t do this, but today has been a little tiring. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Yeah...” Hansol thought back to the raw pain in Seungkwan’s eyes and shivered. 

“You still cold?” Seungcheol asked, back to worrying. He pulled the jacket tighter around Hansol. “Minghao, do you have any tissues? This kid is still soaking wet.”

“No, but we can clean him up when we get to the diner.” 

“Good point.”

 

The trip to the diner was short. Seungcheol could drive, apparently, and the rest of the T-Birds were already waiting for them inside of the car. Needless to say the journey had been more than a little cramped. Somehow they’d gotten there all in one piece, though. Hansol had the sneaking suspicion that these kinds of trips were pretty frequent for the group.

They entered Bangtan’s Diner, the boys immediately making themselves at home. The waiters all waved hello as the bunch sat down in a large booth, immediately jostling and shoving at each other for more room. Hansol ended up sandwiched between Seungcheol and a guy called Seokmin, both of which were trying to wipe him clean and get the dried milk out of his hair. It was endearing, the way he’d been adopted into the T-Birds. And to think he actually thought they were intimidating at first.

“Shouldn’t you guys be in school?” 

They all looked up to find a friendly-looking waiter regarding them with a raised eyebrow. There clearly wasn’t much judgement behind it, though. His nametag read ‘Seokjin’. The T-Birds said hello with various degrees of enthusiasm. 

“Shouldn’t you be in college?” Jihoon returned, and the whole table erupted into a chorus of ‘ _ ooh _ ’s. 

“Shouldn’t you be drinking your milk, shorty?” Seokjin deadpanned. The ‘ _ ooh _ ’s got even louder, if that was possible. Even the table next to them joined in.

“He’s not short, he’s just vertically challenged.” Seungcheol stage-whispered. Jihoon threw a laminated drinks menu at him that narrowly missed his left eye.

“Alright, settle down.” The waiter said, finally taking out his notepad.

“You started it.” Minghao half-heartedly protested.

“What are you, five?” Seokjin snapped.

“Seokjin -” Seungcheol interrupted. “We’ll have the usual, please. Plus another for the new kid.” He jerked a thumb towards Hansol, who gave a little wave. Seokjin regarded him with curiosity for a moment before giving him a kind smile and leaving to go and make their orders.   
  


Almost as soon as he left, a silence fell over the table and everyone turned to look at Hansol. Uncomfortable at the sudden attention, he shifted in his seat, his eyes darting from person to person.

“What?”

“What’s the deal with you and Boo Seungkwan?” One of them asked. Under the intense scrutiny, Hansol had forgotten the guy’s name.

“Mingyu, don’t be rude.” Wonwoo whispered to the guy who’d spoken. 

“Somebody has to ask.” Mingyu replied easily. Wonwoo seemed to agree, for he didn’t say anything to that. 

Hansol swallowed. “Umm…I kind of...hurt him?” 

“No shit.” Jihoon snorted. Seungcheol shot him a glare and he shut up.

“We…” Hansol fidgeted with his sleeve, wondering how to tell them what happened without coming out. These guys seemed nice, but unfortunately ‘nice’ was not synonymous with ‘accepting’. Although Wonwoo and that Mingyu guy seemed a little too close - but Hansol didn’t want to make any hasty assumptions. Glancing up from his hands, he saw that the group was still watching him. He bit his lip, trying to decide what to do.

Thankfully, Minghao spoke up and brought an end to the silence.

“Did you break up with him?” 

Hansol’s thoughts screeched to a halt. His eyes flitted from unwavering stare to unwavering stare. It was impossible to gauge their reactions. Then Seungcheol put his arm around his shoulder like everything was normal, and Hansol relaxed a little. 

Seokmin smiled. “It’s okay. Everyone here knows Seungkwan is a flaming homosexual.” 

Hansol choked on his spit. Seungcheol and Seokmin burst out laughing, the rest of the group quieter but by no means less amused. 

“We even have our own couple of flaming homosexuals.” Seokmin motioned grandly to Mingyu and Wonwoo, who instantly flinched and stared daggers at their friend.

“Jeez, could you say that a little louder?!” Wonwoo hissed.

Hansol made a noise of realisation. “Couple? That makes sense.”

There was a moment of silence before the table burst into raucous laughter. All, that is, except for the aforementioned pair. Mingyu protested loudly, his face colouring a little, while Wonwoo just covered his face and slid further and further down in his seat until all that could be seen of him was his hair.

“They’re -” Seokmin gasped, trying to catch his breath. “They’re not together.” When Hansol sent him a questioning look, he just shook his head. “They’re idiots. That’s the only explanation for whatever  _ that _ is.” He motioned towards the two boys, seeming exasperated. 

“So don’t worry, basically.” Seungcheol said, catching his attention. He smiled and ruffled Hansol’s hair. “We get it.” 

Hansol smiled back gratefully. “Thanks...”

Mingyu cleared his throat. “So...you broke Seungkwan’s heart? What did you do?” The distraction worked. All of the attention went right back to Hansol, but he was ready for it this time.

“I broke up with him because I was moving schools...obviously, I didn’t know he’d be here.” Hansol worried his lip for a moment, the regret overwhelming. The boys waited quietly. “I thought...long distance wasn’t worth it. That it would be too hard, I guess?” Hansol shrugged and shrank back into his seat, averting his eyes from the rest of the group.

Seungcheol patted his shoulder and drew him into a half-hug, but said nothing. Seokmin was the one who spoke first.

“I get that. How would you have known?” He said, an attempt at making him feel better. It kind of nearly worked.

“Yeah,” Mingyu agreed. “No worries, man. I’m sure you two can figure it out.” Him and Wonwoo nodded together, scarily in sync. Hansol eyed them for a moment, trying not to be too obvious, but his poker face clearly wasn’t very good.

Wonwoo made a noise of frustration. “Can you stop looking at us like that?”  
  


This time, when everyone burst into laughter, Hansol joined in. The mood lifted and for the time being he could forget the ache squirming in his chest and the dried milk itching his skin. That night, however, his bedroom seemed a little too dark and his bed a little too cold. Seungkwan’s face kept appearing in his thoughts, along with his sharp words. 

If he had nightmares that night, well, if he didn’t tell anyone then nobody would know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chanting* MEANIE MEANIE MEANIE
> 
> Also poor Hansol :(
> 
> (psst you can talk to me on twitter @sunshinesangho pls tweet me I need more friends)


	4. Chapter 4

For the Pink Ladies, sleepovers were the cure for everything. Feeling down? Sleepover. Failed a test? Sleepover. Finding out that the boy who broke your heart into a thousand pieces moved to your school and you’ll have to see his face every single day, all the while trying to get over him? Sleepover.

So it came to be that the group were crowded into Jeonghan’s living room, the lights down low and a record playing softly in the background. Each had a mug of hot cocoa and were idly chatting amongst each other.

Seungkwan, however, was not.

Soonyoung looked over at the boy for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening and sighed.

“He’s never been like this before…”

Jisoo looked up from the magazine in his lap. “Who?” When Soonyoung motioned towards Seungkwan, his face turned gentle. “He seems seriously heartbroken over this guy, doesn’t he?”

“I thought he was just...overreacting a little.” Soonyoung admitted guiltily.

“Apparently not.”

“Maybe he actually fell in love…”

The two of them looked at their friend, watching as he gloomily took a bite of his fourth chocolate glazed donut. None of them had seen him in such a state for so long. Not sure what to do, Jisoo turned back to his magazine and Soonyoung refocused on the conversation he was supposed to be in.

“I think it’ll turn out great.” Junhui said with a smile. He was speaking of Jeonghan’s hair, which the boy was currently dying another ridiculous colour.

“Don’t you think you’re dying it a little too early? Or is it too late…I mean, school has already started.” Chan, Soonyoung’s little brother, piped up from where he was doing his homework. He’d balanced his book on a particularly round pillow and the lack of balance jogged his handwriting whenever he wrote, so his face was fixed in a permanent frown of concentration.

Jeonghan tutted. “There’s a reason, you know.”

“Yeah, he wants to make his secret boyfriend swoon.” Junhui snorted.

Jeonghan shot him an icy stare. Chan and Soonyoung laughed, the older rolling onto his back and burrowing himself under a pile of duvets. Jisoo abandoned his magazine and promptly started burying Soonyoung under more pillows.

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten tired of this joke yet.” Jeonghan said a little bitterly.

“Joke? Okay, sure, whatever you say.” Junhui smirked and leaned back.

“If you don’t know what you’re talking about, you should shut your mouth before you get hurt.” Jeonghan’s eyes glinted menacingly as he reached for a pillow.

“Is that a threat?” Junhui laughed nervously, his rising fear visible.

“I don’t know, Wen Junhui.” Jeonghan inched closer, the pillow slowly rising in the air. “You tell me.”

Junhui raised his hands in surrender. “No?” He tried, sliding further down the sofa in the opposite direction. Jeonghan smirked and the pillow hit Junhui square in the face. He fell to the floor with a cry of surprise, landing on Soonyoung, who was trapped somewhere under Jisoo’s construction. Soonyoung let out a muffled shout.

“Oh my god, is Soonyoung under there?” Seungkwan finally spoke.

“Yepp.” Jisoo grinned, elated that he was finally joining in.

Soonyoung finally wrestled an arm free and waved it around, feeling for who was on top of him. Junhui protested when it smacked him in the face and he grabbed it, trying to get it under control. That just made Soonyoung start thrashing even more.

“Free him!” Chan shouted, laughing as he watched the pair struggle.

“Get back!” Jisoo grabbed a sofa cushion and started whacking Soonyoung with it, his face determined. When Soonyoung kicked out a leg both him and Chan pounced for it, ripping his sock off and tickling his foot with brute force.

Soonyoung let out a squeal and started fighting for his life. Being younger, Chan easily lost his grip and Soonyoung’s foot immediately collided with his face. He let out a wail of pain. Jisoo’s head snapped up and he reached out for the younger boy, examining his face.

“Are you okay?” Jeonghan crawled forward and did the same, smacking Soonyoung’s leg away with ease.

The boys gathered around Chan, who was clutching his cheek but otherwise appeared to be fine. Seungkwan ran to get something from the kitchen and Soonyoung finally resurfaced, his face going from confusion to concern and guilt.

“Chan? I’m so sorry oh my god -”

“It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt that bad.” The younger replied, despite the obvious redness to his cheekbone. It was already starting to swell a little.

“I’m so so sorry does it hurt a lot I’m so-”

“Stop it, I’m fine!” Chan interrupted him, playfully hitting his arm. Seungkwan reappeared with a bag of frozen peas and pressed them gently to his face. Chan winced but accepted it. When Soonyoung’s face looked a little less mortified Chan reluctantly let himself be smothered in a hug, and seeing that the younger boy was fine, the rest of them returned to their previous activities.

 

Meanwhile, Seungkwan snuck out through the back door.

The cool air of the September evening greeted him, a light breeze caressing his skin as he took a deep breath and sat down on the porch steps. Even though the sun had set, the western sky was still dimly lit in a dark orange, a few stars struggling to peer through. In the east, the sky was a deep black, allowing the stars to twinkle brightly. Seungkwan propped his chin up on his palm and watched the trees sway in the gentle wind.

This thing with Hansol was going to be an issue. He knew it. The Pink Ladies knew it. Hansol probably knew it (and if he didn’t then he was a bigger idiot than he’d let on). Seungkwan didn’t know how he was going to deal with this. Hansol had unapologetically, brutally crushed his heart. Seungkwan didn’t allow many people to do that.

Just as he was curating his various types of self-pity, he heard the door open behind him. Shrouded by the soft orange light of the hallway stood Junhui, his shadow spilling onto the porch.

“I guess asking you whether or not you’re okay would be stupid.” He said, waiting for a sign that it was okay to join him. Seungkwan gave it to him with a soft smile and Junhui let the door swing shut, plunging them back into the murky night as he sat down on the steps.

“I’m sorry I’m being such a downer.” Seungkwan muttered.

“It’s alright. We get it.” Junhui smiled, swinging his arm across his friend’s shoulders. Seungkwan leaned into him, his lower lip jutting out.

“I don’t know how I can go back tomorrow and see his face.”

“Well, you might not have to. It’s a big school.”

Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “Thanks to Seungcheol and Jeonghan’s fighting, the T-Birds never leave us alone. God knows how Hansol got wound up in their business.”

“Hey, they’re not all that bad.” Junhui defended. He was friends with one of their members, Minghao, because they had been lab buddies last year. Seungkwan shrugged, reluctantly agreeing. Junhui sighed and looked up at the sky, momentarily captivated by the stars.

“It’s really clear out tonight, huh?”

“Yeah…” Seungkwan’s voice trembled.

Junhui immediately pulled him closer. He kept his eyes on the sky, but he could feel Seungkwan’s body shaking as he cried silently, his fingers hurriedly wiping his tears away. It broke Junhui’s heart to see his friend like this and he vowed to himself that he would try his hardest to help Seungkwan and Hansol fix this thing between them. Either that, or break Hansol’s nose. Whichever one Seungkwan preferred.

“You know…” Junhui began, waiting for Seungkwan’s breathing to calm down. “I can totally punch him in the face if you want.”

Seungkwan let out a weak laugh, but it sounded genuine enough. Junhui rubbed his shoulder, laughing along with him.

“I mean it. Just say the word and I’ll break his nose.”

“You’ll get in trouble, though.” Seungkwan protested, but he was smiling. “And you have a perfect record. The only time you’ve been to the headmistress’ office is when the cheerleading team got a trophy.”

Junhui smirked. “Yeah, the headmistress loves me though. She’ll let me off.”

“You’re such a teacher’s pet, oh my god.” Seungkwan sniffed and shoved at Junhui. His voice was back to normal and his smile was becoming more solid by the second. Junhui grinned, happy that he could help.

“Like you’re one to talk - all of the staff say hi to you in the halls, even the janitor.”

“The janitor is really nice, he helped me that time my Cola leaked in my bag!” Seungkwan leaned away. “Everyone is always so mean to him.”

“Alright,” Junhui laughed, standing and dragging Seungkwan up with him. “Come bring your poor bleeding heart back inside. Soonyoung wants to start a game of truth or dare.”

“Again? But last time Jisoo ended up stuck in the neighbour’s tree in his underwear.”

Jisoo had spent hours freezing up there before they’d managed to drag a mattress out of Jeonghan’s house and have him jump down. Nobody knew how he’d managed to climb up into that tree, not even Jisoo himself. He’d come down freezing and covered in scratches. They’d even found a spider in his hair (and one in his underwear that had crawled out while he slept, but they hadn’t told him about that). They were pretty sure Jisoo was repressing the entire event.

“I know. I think Jisoo is going to be taking truths this time.”

Seungkwan snorted. “I wonder why.”

Together they walked back inside, much to the delight of the rest of the group. They were so happy, in fact, that Seungkwan caught the bag of frozen peas to his stomach, winding him. He did love them, though, even if they threw frozen vegetables at him sometimes.

 

*

 

“Are they asleep?”

“Yeah, they went out like a light once I stuck Sinatra on.”

Jeonghan smiled as he shut the door behind Seungcheol, pecking him on the cheek as they tiptoed to the kitchen. On the way there they stuck their heads into the living room, smiling fondly at the unidentifiable lumps of people and bedding over the floor.

“Come on,” Jeonghan whispered, pulling Seungcheol away into the kitchen, where he’d made two mugs of hot cocoa. They waited for them on the counter, steaming softly, and Seungcheol excitedly swept one up into his hands.

“You always make the best cocoa.” He grinned happily around the rim of his mug. He took a sip, careful not to burn his tongue.

The streetlights outside offered the only light for the kitchen, filling the room with a soft amber glow that was specially reserved for the night-time. Their shadows blurred at the edges and their eyes twinkled, comfortable in the shared silence.

“So today was weird.” Jeonghan began.

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and slid closer to his boyfriend until their hips were touching against the counter. Jeonghan reached down and linked their free hands, his thumb caressing the other boy’s knuckles.

“What a first day, huh.” Seungcheol smiled. “We have some real work to do.”

“We? We’re not their parents.”

“Come on, we practically are. These kids are helpless.”

Jeonghan sighed and nodded. “Yeah, they really are.”

“We took Hansol out to the diner today.” Seungcheol continued.

“Bangtan’s? How’d it go?”

“Hansol seems really worked up about the whole thing. Like, really guilty. He’s putting on a brave face but he’s beating himself up on the inside.” Seungcheol took another drink, shaking his head. “Poor kid. What a misunderstanding.”

“Not really a misunderstanding - he didn’t have to shatter Seungkwannie’s heart.” Jeonghan said a little too sharply.

Seungcheol tugged on his hand a little. “Oh, come on, don’t be so hard on him. He didn’t know this would happen.”

Jeonghan just hummed and stared out into the street. A cat crossed the street leisurely, its eyes flashing. He heard Seungcheol put his mug down on the counter and felt his head being turned. Seungcheol was staring intently at the towel perched on his head, his fingers skirting around the edge teasingly.

“More importantly, though, what’s this?”

“A surprise.” Jeonghan smiled teasingly and pulled his hands away.

“You dyed it again?” Seungcheol’s eyes widened, his curiousity making him shift on his feet. Jeonghan kept his hands from flying up to the towel.

“Yes. Do you remember what you said a couple of days ago?”

Seungcheol thought. “I say a lot of things. Give me a hint?”

“We were at the florist. I asked you to pick out flowers. Remember?”

Realisation dawned on Seungcheol’s face and he nodded eagerly. His eyes ran over the towel, as if summoning the ability to see under it.

“You said…” Jeonghan prompted, waiting.

“That my new favourite colour was periwinkle.” Seungcheol gaped, trying to tear his hands free from Jeonghan’s grip. “Oh my god, I swear if you -”

“Quiet!” Jeonghan pressed a chaste kiss to his lips, silencing him. “You’ll wake them up. Be quiet and I’ll show you.”

Seungcheol’s head flew up and down in a manic nod. He was practically bouncing with excitement, rocking backwards and forwards on the balls of his feet as Jeonghan reached up and let his hair fall down around his shoulders.

“Wow…” Seuncheol whispered in complete awe. Jeonghan was beautiful, as always. The new colour perfectly complemented his skin tone and he’d done a great job dying it, as usual. Jeonghan nervously tucked his hair behind his ear, his eyes scanning his boyfriend’s face.

“It doesn’t look properly periwinkle in this light but Jisoo said I got the right shade.”

“You look gorgeous…” Seungcheol breathed before leaning in to kiss him, his fingers tenderly stroking through his new hair. It was soft and Jeonghan’s lips tasted like chocolate and he smelled like hair dye and their socked toes were touching and _everything was exactly the way it should be_.

“Why are you smiling?” Jeonghan pulled back, smiling too. “Do you like it that much?”

“I love it. I love _you_.” Seungcheol kissed him again through both of their smiles, relishing the way Jeonghan’s arms circled around his waist.

 

Sometimes it got frustrating hiding their relationship from everyone. At the moment, the only people that knew were Jeonghan’s parents, because they weren’t bothered by it and let Seungcheol stay over all the time. Jeonghan would have been comfortable to tell the Pink Ladies, but that would have meant telling the T-Birds, too, and Seungcheol was a little more scared. His parents weren’t exactly the most accepting of people, and neither were a lot of people.

So, he wasn’t ready to come out yet. It strained their relationships at times, but Jeonghan understood. And all the hiding and pretending was worth it for moments of complete peace like this. Plus, Jeonghan was totally into the whole fake rivalry thing they had going on, and who was Seungcheol to complain?  


They broke apart, breathing a little heavily. Jeonghan licked his lips and that was nearly enough to make Seungcheol dive back in, but they both knew it couldn’t go any further. The Pink Ladies were sleeping just down the hall, after all.

“I love you too.” Jeonghan replied at long last, murmuring it into the dip of the other boy’s collarbone. His lips pressed a gentle kiss there, hovering for a moment before pulling away.

“I should go home…” Seungcheol groaned, his face scrunching up into a frown.

Whining a little, Jeonghan pulled him closer again, burrowing his face into the crook of his neck and staying there. Seungcheol’s hand instinctively stroked the back of his head, even while he knew he needed to leave as soon as possible.

Sighing, he tore himself away. “Sorry, babe. You know I need to go.”

“I know.” Jeonghan echoed his sigh. After a moment of gazing into Seungcheol’s eyes, he led him back to the front door, their hands joined together. He didn’t let go of the other boy until he was on the doormat outside. “Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight. See you tomorrow,” Seungcheol smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Jeonghan watched him leave until he was out of sight, disappearing behind his neighbour’s tall hedgerow. Even then he was reluctant to shut the door, but he did, because he had to, and he went back to the living room where his covers were a lot colder than he would have liked. Next to him, Chan stirred.

“Where were you?” He mumbled, speech slurred with sleep.

“Toilet. Go back to sleep.” Jeonghan pulled the covers higher over the boy’s chest and settled himself down for a long night.

It was hard, sometimes. But Seungcheol made it worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sosososo sorry this took longer than promised!! I had two assignments to focus on and I went on holiday so I've been a little busy. I will admit I had some trouble writing this chapter and it's still not up to par with my standards but I'll publish it anyway...hopefully I'll have more time to write since Easter break is coming up. 
> 
> As always, thank you for reading, and you can find me on twitter at @sunshinesangho if you want to make friends! <3333


	5. Chapter 5

Seungkwan entered his first lesson of the day with a brave face. His friends had cheered him up enough that his usual smile graced his face, although anybody who really knew him could tell that it was tight and forced. Sending a nod to some of his more distant friends, he sat down at his desk, taking a moment to lay his backpack onto the table and bury his face into it. The world was proving to be a little tough today.

Thankfully, he hadn’t seen Hansol anywhere yet. The T-Birds had made an appearance, but once they’d seen him burst into anger at the sight of a stain on his jumper they’d hastily turned the corner.

“Good morning,” Seungkwan heard his teacher’s voice silence the room. “I know it’s early but I’d like everyone to at least pretend like they care.”

Seungkwan took that as his cue to resurface. Sure enough, his teacher was staring right at him. He sent her an apologetic smile and started to get his notebook and pens out from his bag.

“We have a new student joining us.”

Seungkwan’s brain screeched to a halt. His eyes involuntarily moved to the open door, where Hansol stood hesitantly. He hadn’t noticed him yet, but that face was enough to prod the embers of Seungkwan’s anger.

“Why don’t you come in?” Their teacher asked. The class laughed quietly when Hansol hurriedly stepped into the room, already embarrassed. Seungkwan was not laughing.

“Want to introduce yourself?”

Hansol shifted awkwardly, realising that their teacher was not as kind as she appeared. Facing the class, he cleared his throat while rehearsing what he was going to say.

“Hi, I’m Hansol…” As his eyes swept the room, they finally landed on Seungkwan. They both froze - Seungkwan with anger and doubt, Hansol with fear and anxiety. The class glanced between them. Whispers began to circulate about the incident in the cafeteria yesterday. The boys quickly broke eye contact, but it was too late. The class knew.

“Well, Hansol, luckily it seems you already know someone in our classroom. Why don’t you take the empty seat next to Seungkwan?” Apparently their teacher knew, too.

Seungkwan’s head snapped in her direction. “You can’t do this.”

“That’s not very welcoming of you, Seungkwan.” She said, looking disappointed. Beneath her professional guilt-tripping farce, she was laughing, and Seungkwan did not appreciate it.

“After all the times I volunteered to help you?” Seungkwan asked, slumping at his desk. This betrayal was fucking raw.

She cocked her head sympathetically. “You raised your hand when nobody else would. You’re a real life hero, Seungkwan.”

The class broke out into laughter. Seungkwan pursed his lips, biting back his rebuttal. He remembered his ‘Hansol’ problem when the other boy inched into the desk next to him, his movements as careful as if he were approaching a wild animal. Seungkwan slowly turned to face him, his eyes narrowed. Hansol froze halfway into his seat.

“Play nice.” His teacher’s voice warned.

“He doesn’t deserve me to play at all, be that nice or otherwise.” Seungkwan said, his eyes never leaving Hansol’s. The other boy was still posed as if to make a run for it.

Hansol spoke up in a voice that trembled a little. “I really think I should sit somewhere else.”

“Nonsense. You’re not children, you’re seventeen years old.” Their teacher’s voice took a steelier tone and the class stilled. “You come to school to learn, not live out your favourite soap opera.”

Seungkwan saw that grab Hansol’s attention, making him look away with a doubtful frown and then back again. They formed a strange camaraderie in that moment. Seungkwan could feel what he’d been yearning after all summer, so, stupidly, he opened his mouth.

“Yet you still somehow know all of our ‘childish’ gossip.” Seungkwan turned to their teacher with a raised eyebrow. The class broke out into noises of shock and appreciation, but all he could think about was the smirk Hansol was wearing. “Is your life really that sad?”

Gaping, the teacher tried to formulate a proper admonishment while the class erupted into laughter. Seungkwan, although a little loud sometimes, was the model student. Model students did not sass teachers.

“Excuse me?”

Seungkwan and Hansol shared another look. Seungkwan realised he was already digging himself a grave, and so did Hansol. Seungkwan sent him a tiny shrug. Hansol couldn’t stop the wink that rose out of him, and without waiting to see his reaction he turned to their teacher.

“All due respect, we didn’t intend for our personal life to become the talk of the school, but at least we have a personal life.”

Their teacher was lost for words. Someone shouted something about the new kid being a badass, and someone else shouted back that he was a T-Bird, after all. Hansol turned back to Seungkwan only to see a mixture of awe, attraction and confusion. Smiling, he stood up, prompting Seungkwan to do the same.

“Whe-” Their teacher’s voice broke and she had to try again, prompting another round of tittering from the room. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“We’re taking ourselves to the headmistress’ office.” Hansol smirked, feeling his confidence grow when Seungkwan stood and joined him.

“Or do you want us to wait until you remember how to discipline your students?” Seungkwan asked innocently.

“Get out!”

Seungkwan finally broke out into giggles and the two of them ran out of the room, weaving in between desks and getting patted on the back by classmates Seungkwan had never spoken to.

  
Slamming the door behind them, they erupted into laughter. Seungkwan let himself grip onto Hansol’s wrist, tugging him down the corridor as laughter continued to bubble out of him. He smelled Hansol’s shampoo and suddenly he couldn’t think straight anymore.

“Are you actually taking me to the headmistress’ office?” Hansol asked, his voice bright like it had been in the summer.

Seungkwan grinned. “There’s no way in hell I’m going there; you know how strict my parents can be.”

“And you’re a goody-two-shoes.” When Seungkwan turned to gape at him, he smirked. “What? I could have said brown-noser. That has way worse imagery.”

“You could also have said nothing.” Seungkwan’s words had little bite to them; his smile shone like the sun as he led Hansol through winding corridors and finally out of the building.

They both stopped, the new awkwardness leeching away the familiarity that they had so easily remembered. What next? Seungkwan looked at Hansol expectantly. His eyes gleamed with hope. Hansol swallowed around his suddenly dry throat and fixed his eyes on his shoes.

“Seungkwan…”

“Yes?” he breathed, his anticipation palpable in the air between them. Hansol thought back to how he’d been just the same when they went on their first date and suddenly his head felt like a very, very small place to be.

“I can’t -”

“I know I have a temper,” Seungkwan could see that Hansol was struggling and he bit back his annoyance, trying to buy the other boy some time. “But you really did break my heart. I just want to hear you say you’re sorry.”

Hansol’s words came out as a mumble. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I was an asshole you deserve so much better, I shouldn’t even have thought -”

On instinct, Seungkwan tugged at his wrist to make him stop babbling, but Hansol’s instinct had him ripping his wrist free and taking one step back, then another, and then suddenly he was leaving and he wasn’t sure why.

“Hansol?” The hurt in Seungkwan’s voice was amplified tenfold in Hansol’s chest. “Just say you’re sorry. Can’t you even say sorry?!” Seungkwan’s voice broke on the last yell. Tears sprang to his eyes but his feet were rooted to the ground, watching as the other boy disappeared around the corner. Willing his tears to disappear, he pressed his palms into his eyes and let out an involuntary sob.

It followed Hansol all the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this took me so long, I really don't have an excuse except for writer's block ;-; also I apologize for the angst, the next chapter will be lighter I promise!
> 
> Thanks for reading <3


	6. Chapter 6

“What did you get for number three?”

“Jack...and...shit.”

Wonwoo looked up from his textbook at Mingyu, who he’d thought was working on their maths homework but was really fiddling with some figurines on Wonwoo’s bookshelf. When Mingyu heard no reply he looked up at the other boy and smiled, grabbing one of the toys and making him wave hello. 

“This is due tomorrow.”

“I know.” Mingyu shrugged and turned back to his playing.

Sighing, Wonwoo glanced at the clock on his desk. It read 5:18. It sent its rhythmic, lethargic ticking into the room, reminding the boys that the day was nearly over. Although it was September, it was already beginning to get dark. Shadows began to fall over the room. 

“What’s the point in coming over to study if you’re not going to study?” Wonwoo asked, laying down his pen. 

This time, Mingyu didn’t turn around. “To come over.” 

A little warning bell began to ring inside Wonwoo’s head, although he wasn’t sure why. It had been ringing a lot lately. He’d dubbed it the Mingyu bell. Against his better judgement, he swivelled around in his chair and faced the other boy properly.

“Why did you want to come over so badly?” Something about the question made his stomach twist, so he hurriedly added, “So somebody else would also hand in their homework late?”

Mingyu snorted. “Seungcheol isn’t doing it either. He said he’s busy this afternoon.”

Wonwoo wanted to repeat the question. He felt it sitting on the tip of his tongue, squirming restlessly. It turned out he didn’t need to say a word; Mingyu finally turned around. 

“I wanted to spend time with you. Is that so bad?” Mingyu’s eyes glinted with something unsaid. Wonwoo felt his tongue twitch and suddenly the alarm in his head grew louder.

“You spend time with me every day.”

“Alone.” Mingyu swallowed, looking down at the floor. “I wanted to spend time with you alone.”

Wonwoo couldn’t look away. Suddenly he was fascinated by the faint blush dusting Mingyu’s cheeks and the way he bit his lip as he stared holes into the carpet. The silence was thick and heavy, charged with something that should have been unfamiliar to the both of them but wasn’t. Wonwoo told himself that Mingyu just missed him because they were close. 

“You can come over anytime.” Wonwoo said. His voice didn’t sound like his. His words hinted at something else, something he definitely hadn’t meant, and now Mingyu’s eyes were on his again and he felt pinned down and drawn in at the same time.

“You better not be just saying that.” 

Wonwoo felt his throat go dry. “I-I’m not.” There was something in Mingyu’s eyes that made it impossible to look away. “I mean it.”

Wonwoo’s mother laughed somewhere in the house and the sound reached them, breaking the spell. Mingyu smiled his usual smile and Wonwoo released a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

“Good. Thanks friend.”

The word was like a slap to the face. Wonwoo told himself that it was a helpful slap and not a hurtful one. Because they were friends. That’s all they were and everyone else was just seeing things that didn’t exist and wouldn’t exist. 

Pursing his lips, Wonwoo looked back down at his textbook and tried to forget about it.

 

It worked until later that evening, when it came back to bite him on the ass. 

The two of them were sitting at the foot of his bed, Wonwoo’s focus on a book and Mingyu’s on the sketch pad in front of him. Periodically, Wonwoo would glance up at him and wonder what he was thinking about while doodling on the page before him. He looked angelic in the soft orange light. The soft scratching of pencil on paper was incredibly relaxing, and Wonwoo would have happily dozed right off, were the right side of his body not on fire where Mingyu leaned against him. 

Wonwoo reread the same sentence for the fifth time. His muscles were tense, hyper-aware of the boy next to him. It only seemed to escalate. Mingyu’s elbow brushed against his ribs and he jerked involuntarily, making the other boy look at him. 

“Sorry,” he said, his voice too loud in the silence that had been weighing them down.

Wonwoo shook his head. “It’s fine,”

It wasn’t fine. There was something wrong here; Wonwoo was conscious of Mingyu, sure, but never to this degree. Perhaps it had been Mingyu’s confession earlier, but Wonwoo couldn’t stop thinking about all of the things their friends would be saying if they were here right now.

“Is the book that tense?”

“No…” Wonwoo finally looked at Mingyu. His face was deceptively blank, but his eyes radiated something else. Wonwoo realised how close their faces were. Without quite realising it, his eyes strayed to Mingyu’s lips and froze there. 

Mingyu stopped breathing. His tongue darted out and drew in his lower lip, biting down on hit hard. Wonwoo swallowed around the tightness in his throat and ignored the wordless screaming in his head. For now, he focused on tearing his gaze away from his best friend’s lips and back to his book, where it should have stayed.

He felt Mingyu relax next to him. 

Wonwoo held back a sigh. He hoped Mingyu hadn’t noticed his moment of conflict, and that he hadn’t made him really uncomfortable. Because they were friends. And everyone was stupid for thinking they could be anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while when I said that I would ;-; Easter break turned out more hectic than planned and now I'm swamped with uni work...honestly I have no idea when I'll have the time to finish this fic but I promise that I will! 
> 
> I hope all of you had a good Easter if you celebrate it and if not, then a good spring break! And to everyone who has exams coming up: I believe in you! We're in this together lol <3


	7. Chapter 7

Seungkwan stared at his menu aimlessly. These past few days he hadn’t been feeling very hungry. Or very anything, apart from devastatingly heartbroken over Hansol. He’d seriously started to wonder if this would ever be fixed or if he would have to spend his last year of high school getting chest pains at regular intervals during the day.   
  
“Seungkwan, have you picked something yet?” Soonyoung asked him, bringing his attention back to their usual booth at the diner.   
  
He shrugged. “I don’t mind. Order something for me.” In his periphery, his friends sighed and sent him worried looks. Today even Chan was there, which just made it worse. He was sitting next to him, peering up with round, sad eyes.  
  
The younger boy grabbed his hand. “Do you want to share a sundae with me?”   
  
Not wanting to upset the boy, Seungkwan nodded and drew up a small smile, which seemed to make Chan happy. Their waiter, who Seungkwan hadn’t even realised was standing there, took their orders and left. He listened to his friends make small-talk, trying to lift the atmosphere. Seungkwan hated how much he’d been dampening their mood lately, so he tried to listen to what they were saying.  
  
“I don’t know what time they shut…” Junhui was pondering.   
  
Jeonghan folded his napkin over. “They can’t shut that late.”  
  
“But it’s a Sunday tomorrow.” Chan pointed out.  
  
“True, but they still should stay open. Anyway, we could even go today.”   
  
“Where are we going?” Seungkwan spoke up. Everybody’s faces seemed to brighten a little.  
  
“The pet store!” Soonyoung cheered, prompting Chan to do the same.   
  
“Why the pet store?”  
  
“Because it always cheers us up.” Junhui offered with a small smile, trying not to give away how much he pitied Seungkwan but failing miserably. Seeing this, Jeonghan leaned across the table and playfully pinched Seungkwan’s cheek, eliciting a laugh from the group. Pouting, Seungkwan batted his hand away. It was easy to pretend like everything was normal when his friends did the same. But out of the corner of his eye he saw Junhui and Soonyoung share a relieved look and he had to force his face to stay blank.  
  
  
  
“Guys,” Their waiter returned, but his hands were empty. His words, however, made it clear why he came. “I know you have some kind of rivalry thing with those hooligans,” he waved his hand dismissively towards the other end of the diner and Seungkwan’s stomach dropped. “But I don’t want any trouble today, alright?”  
  
“Believe me, we would never stoop so low.” Jeonghan sent the T-Birds a withering look. The waiter rolled his eyes.  
  
“I get it, you have integrity, whatever. Just don’t get me into shit with my boss.”  
  
Soonyoung smiled up at him. “We promise we won’t cause trouble, Yoongi.” The older man still looked doubtful, so Soonyoung grinned and sent him a thumbs up. Somehow that worked and Yoongi left, sending them one last warning look.  
  
“Why are they here?” Chan asked worriedly, his gaze fixed on his brother. Soonyoung met his eyes and smiled at him.   
  
“Don’t worry. We’ll ignore them.”  
  
“Yeah, but will they ignore us?” Junhui muttered darkly. “They know we come here all the time.”  
  
Jisoo nudged him. “Calm down, it’s a free country.”  
  
“Well isn’t that the biggest bullshit I’ve ever heard.” Jeonghan snorted, making Jisoo roll his eyes. He turned to Seungkwan, who was staring at the table in front of him like there was a tragedy playing out on the plastic. “So. Pet store?”  
  
“Sure,” Seungkwan’s voice was quiet.  
  
Chan’s eyes were now fixed on the T-Birds, who were getting progressively louder. One by one the Pink Ladies turned to watch as the noise grew. Minghao and Seokmin were having some kind of debate that was drawing the rest of the members in. Mingyu threw a menu at Seokmin and Yoongi was suddenly bearing down on them like a shark.  
  
“And he thought we’d be the ones causing trouble.” Jeonghan muttered, eyes locked on Seungcheol.   
  
Yoongi said something and the T-Birds turned, eyes searching, to find the Pink Ladies. The groups quietened. Hansol met Seungkwan’s eyes with a sad expression, his eyes filled with regret. Seungkwan froze.   
  
Seungcheol smirked. “It’s not like they own the place.” His voice was loud enough to carry and Jeonghan tilted his head.  
  
“Who does he think he is?” He asked no one in particular. Soonyoung didn’t know for sure, but he suspected that he deliberately didn’t say that quietly.  
  
“What was that? Who am I?” Seungcheol asked. By this time most of the diner had stopped talking and was watching the two groups. “I’m who you think about at night, baby.”  
  
“Alright, shut up! Both of you!” Yoongi stood between Seungcheol and Jeonghan, breaking their intense eye contact. “If you carry on behaving like brats I’m kicking you out.” He walked off, muttering under his breath, and the regular peace of the diner resumed.  
  
The Pink Ladies fell back against their seats, the tension leaving their bodies. Jeonghan was still stealing glances at Seungcheol, but overall the situation had been calmed down. However, Junhui’s sigh of relief was cut short when he looked at Seungkwan. The boy was still staring at Hansol like the world was ending. Both of them looked like they would burst into tears at any second.  
  
“Are you okay?” Junhui tugged on Seungkwan’s sleeve. Seungkwan seemed to snap out of something, his eyes going wide and blinking furiously when he turned back to the table.  
  
“I -” He cleared his throat. “I need to go. Sorry,” Sending his friends a watery, apologetic smile, he ducked out of the booth and practically ran out of the diner.   
  
They watched him go, their hearts breaking for him. Junhui got up to follow him but Soonyoung put a hand on his arm.  
  
“I think he needs to be alone right now.”  
  
Nobody answered. They were now watching Hansol, who hadn’t followed him either. Seungcheol looked up and met their eyes, but instead of anger there was a sad determination on his face. He stood up. Ignoring the T-Birds’ questions, he walked over to the Pink Ladies.  
  
  
  
“What is it?” Jeonghan asked, but surprisingly his words sounded gentle. Seungcheol nodded to the group and sat down in the booth, making Chan jump towards his brother.  
  
“I’m not gonna hurt you, squirt.” Seungcheol smiled at him and turned back to the group. “I’m here with a white flag.” As if to make his point, he took Jeonghan’s napkin and waved it around, meeting each of their eyes. The group were more surprised that Jeonghan let him take his napkin than they were at Seungcheol’s words.  
  
“A truce?” Jeonghan asked. “Why?”  
  
“Two of our kids are suffering. We can’t let them keep going like this, they’ll burn themselves out.”   
  
“Kids?” Junhui sounded offended.  
  
Seungcheol spared him a glance before turning to Jeonghan. “They’re in pain. We have to fix this.”  
  
“You have a point...we’ll need to work together for this.” Jisoo stepped in, his eyes darting between the two group leaders. There was something fishy going on, but he would interrogate Jeonghan about it later. They seemed way too familiar with each other.   
  
“Exactly,” Seungcheol nodded. He met each of their eyes again and the group was reminded of his charisma.   
  
“Okay, but isn’t Hansol a jerk?” Junhui sat forward.   
  
Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “Every story has at least two sides. Hansol is a sweet kid, he’s just anxious and scared.”  
  
Junhui pursed his lips and leaned back in his seat. It was quiet while the group thought it through. Jeonghan was the first to speak.  
  
“I’m in. But you have to control your kids. I won’t have mine be bullied.”  
  
Junhui sat up. “Again, the ‘kids’ thing is really -”  
  
“We’re not assholes.” Seungcheol interrupted. “If you can play nice so can we.”  
  
“Alright.” Jeonghan reached his hand out. His lips looked suspiciously close to smiling, but maybe Jisoo was seeing things. Seungcheol shook his hand and the group shrugged at each other. “What’s your plan?”  
  
Seungcheol stood up and waved the T-Birds over. He turned back to Jeonghan with a smirk.  
  
“Oh, you’ll see.”  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!! I had so much uni work and it really burned me out :( but I am back now! I will try to finish this fic before I go to Seoul because I obviously won't have much time there...
> 
> As always, thank you for reading! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! <3


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